The Legend of the Ancient Dragons
by Keijt Kotchenski
Summary: An orphaned dragon is born with special powers, and is headed out on an adventure to discover himself. Rating may change later.
1. Coming of age

**Five years is a long hiatus from writing and reading stories on this website. If I were to compare the changes from five years ago till now, it seems like there's more activity now. As far as my old stories goes, they're gone as I would like a fresh start to things.**

 **With that out of the way let's get started.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to the Spyro franchise aside from my own characters.**

 _It's been 3 years since Spyro and Cynder defeated Malefor and returned the world to an era of peace. Evil still loomed but it was the usual bandits, assassins, cons and whatever else you could think of. As the world was being rebuild, creatures of all kinds that had been hiding during the war was starting to come back out._

 _Our story begins in a city to the far north called Heimskr. Heimskr was an underground city housing mostly orphaned dragons, this being dragons who's eggs were abandoned or given away by parents who couldn't take care of them. These dragons were taken care of by overseers until the day they turned 18. Some dragons made it, but most of them turned to a life of crime, it wasn't exactly an easy life being an orphan. Not that the overseers were evil, they just didn't give much care to dragons that didn't do well in school, or if they just flat out didn't like you._

 _Two of these dragons who recently turned 18 is Dusk and Novis. Dusk is a shadow dragon with black scales, a black underbelly, silver wing membrane and three horns with two curving backwards. Novis is a fire dragon with red scales, a yellow underbelly, an orange wing membrane and two horns shaped like a mountain goat._

 _Dusk and Novis were in the training room exchanging combat techniques. Dusk had performed a move with his shadow element that had caused the training dummy to crumble into dust._

" _Not bad Dusk, I can't believe where you get all that power from, you could probably teach the overseers a thing or two."_ Novis said, as he oberserved the crumbling target dummy.

" _I think they're more looking forward to me leaving so they can claim they're the best at what they do."_ Dusk responded rather coldly.

" _Look on the bright side we can get out of here tomorrow morning."_ Novis responded cheerfully, his excitement was through the roof.

Dusk nodded in response, he too was looking forward to leaving, although he had no clue where to go.

Novis had decided he was leaving for Scorched City in the south. A merchant had visited them one day and told some interesting and wild stories about the place.

" _If you still haven't decided you should come with me, we can double team Scorched City and become the strongest students at the temple."_ Novis suggested, secretly praying that Dusk would love the idea.

Dusk simply shook his head. " _We've talked about this before, I just can't see myself working in some temple honing my skills, or worse, getting tied down to some dragoness. I need to be free from all that."_

Novis lowered his head in disappointment, but he still wanted what was best for his only friend in the world.

They moved outside to watch the snow falling, soon this would be a rare sight so they decided to take in the view one last time.

" _I've heard the world outside is dangerous, I hope we're equipped to dealing with the dangers it has to offer. In a way it's exciting."_ Novis said.

Dusk nodded, sharing his excitement.

Day turned to night and they both moved to the mess hall to get some food, something that could turn out to be their last meal together.

" _Attention please!"_ A dragoness yelled, it was the head overseer. " _I will read out the following names of the dragons who will be leaving tomorrow morning._ "

She yelled out name after name, it seemed like there was no end to it, she would usually follow it with a positive or a negative comment depending on whether or not she liked the dragon.

" _Novis, you will probably not make something of yourself."_ Dusk sneered at her comment. Novis simply lowered his head in disappointment. " _I guess my effort hasn't been good enough."_ Novis said. Dusk patted his friend on the back reassuring him he was good enough.

" _Dusk, finally we're getting rid of your annoying attitude, please try to not kill the first one you see."_ The comment winning a lot of roaring laughter.

" _I would love to beat the snot out of her."_ Dusk snarled. Novis trying to calm down his friend, assuring him that doing so would be a bad idea.

Dusk and Novis went to bed after dinner so they could leave early in the morning. That night Novis prayed that he would make it to Scorched City, and maybe one day find his parents. Dusk went to sleep without a care, not worrying about what was about to happen and what to expect.

Night turned to early morning and Dusk and Novis were up early rushing to the exit hoping to leave as soon as possible. When they came outside they saw several other dragons talking amongst one another, and others flying away.

" _I guess we weren't the only ones who had the idea of leaving early."_ Novis said to Dusk, who nodded in response. They looked at each other one last time, nodded, and flew away in each their directions. Novis heading south-west, and Dusk heading south-east. This was the beginning of Dusk's adventure, one that would take him many places and fighting many strong foes.

 _Dusk flew for 3 days ignoring every village he saw along the way. He wasn't sure where he was going, but something felt right about the direction he was headed. He stopped at a river near a grove to get some water._

" _I wonder where I am, I've flown pretty far these past few days."_ Dusk wondered to himself.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a twig snap and looked behind him. Looking behind him he saw a couple of cheetahs and moles, all wearing iron plating and equipped with short swords.

" _Look boys, fresh meat."_ One of the cheetahs said.

" _All we need to do now is capture him, find his parents and demand a large ransom."_ Another cheetah said.

Dusk looked at them and smiled. " _That's pretty funny I'll give you that. I have no issues with you so I suggest you leave now."_

" _Leave? Sure, why don't I drop you all my gems and coins while I'm at it?"_ The cheetah responded.

" _Actually that would be very nice of you if you did."_ Dusk responded with a grin.

" _Oh a smart mouth we have here. I'll be sure to send your parents one of your horns after we're done with you."_ The cheetah responded coldly. They got into a combat stance, meanwhile Dusk just stood there eyeing them.

The staring contest kept going for some time until one of the moles broke the silence.

" _Maybe we're the ones making a mistake here, I mean he's not even trembling or begging for his life."_

" _You idiot, if you're all too scared to attack I'll just prove to you right here and now why I'm the best."_ One of the cheetahs snarled at the mole.

The cheetah charged forward raising his sword in the air. Dusk kept staring and smiling not getting into a combat stance. The cheetah got ready to slash his sword against the young dragon, but in one quick move Dusk had penetrated his armor with his claw. He threw the cheetah to the ground stepping on his throat effectively ending the young cheetah's life.

The rest of the group stood there wide-eyed staring at what was now the remains of their former ally.

" _R-R-R-R-Run!"_ One of the moles yelled. The whole group followed, they jumped into the grove, disappearing from Dusk's view.

" _I wonder, if they were here to kidnap me, what would keep them from holding others captive?"_ Dusk wondered, looking at his bloodied claw. Deciding that the best course of action would probably be to save those who were captured, if there were any, and in turn get rid of some bad guys.

" _Time to see what these bad guys have got."_ Dusk said to himself as he headed into the grove.

 **And that's it for the first chapter. I know I rushed some of the parts in this story, this is not going to be a theme though so don't worry about that. Feel free to R &R and I'll see you guys next time.**

 **Keijt Kotchenski**


	2. A grim reminder

**Hello again. I've been gone for quite a while, and I blame school for that. I wish I could say all this time was spent working on this chapter, sadly not the case. Anyways!**

 **First and foremost, I would like to thank my reviewers, they basically got me thinking about the direction this story was going, and to be honest, it didn't have much of any direction. I'll also admit the first chapter was rushed too much and didn't have the effort put into it as it should have. Basically, I'm contemplating redoing the first chapter. It's also caused me to redo this chapter a number of times since I could never be really satisfied with it. I also know it's opening up to be another cliché story especially with Dusk's attitude and his strength.**

 **I'd also like to stress that this is not another 'hey look at how awesome and overpowered my OC is and here's how he's going to solve everyone's problems'. I'm trying to go for something more psychological, at least when it comes to Dusk. Oh, and no more italics.**

 **With that being said. Thanks to those who reviewed and viewed the first chapter. I hope to improve with this chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't claim ownership of the spyro universe/franchise, only the OC's I made myself.**

The grove was filled with flowers blooming and the trees had fruit blooming everywhere. It was a beautiful day, but Dusk had ugly business to deal with.

As Dusk moved through the Grove his mind was wandering around random memories. The memories filling the most space was his time at Heimskr. He thought about the times he was punished for in his own opinion, silly reasons.

"I can't believe my luck in life, I get mistreated for 18 years of my life, and as soon as I escape misery, I'm attacked and nearly kidnapped." Dusk thought with a hint of melancholy.

"Yet here I am, trying to hunt down some bad guys for nothing more than a mere feeling of self-gratification. How exactly is this going to help me in life? I guess it won't, but I suppose it couldn't hurt either."

One memory showed itself in Dusk's mind, the one where he was almost killed.

"Ah yes, who can forget commander jerkface who nearly got me killed?" Dusk's thoughts began to wander back to that moment in time.

* * *

Dusk and Novis were in the mess hall with two of the overseers. They were being punished for starting a fight with another group of orphans. The fight had started because the other orphans were making fun of Novis calling him a weakling. Dusk did not take kindly to their bullying and lashed out at one of them and started a fight. The fight was stopped shortly after an overseer had entered the room and deemed Dusk responsible. For their punishment, they were tasked with cleaning the mess hall.

"Dusk and Novis if you don't stop idling, I'm going to give you a thrashing." The male overseer yelled sending echoes through the hall. Novis shivered while crying. Dusk remained unfazed at the overseers' demand, not even blinking.

"Listen here you two, either you get started cleaning, or I will make sure you will be cleaning everything by paw." The overseer snarled, his eyes filled with anger.

"This is the type of punishment you get beating up another one of your family members." The other overseer stated.

"First of all, they were bullying Novis and I merely stood up to them, and guess what, if they did it again I would beat them up, no regrets." Dusk responded plainly.

"Is that so? Very well then I'll just have to give you a worse punishment." The overseer chuckled.

He took hold of dusk and dragged him outside. Novis standing passively, too scared to act.

"You better get started if you don't want the same punishment." The remaining overseer threatened.

Novis immediately started cleaning.

Outside the snow was falling hard. The overseer was flying with dusk in paw carrying him far into the cold wilderness. He threw Dusk on the ground and landed next to him.

"To ensure you learn your lesson I'm going to give you a little handicap." The overseer chuckled as he took hold of the purple crystal situated around his neck.

The purple crystal started shining a bright light at Dusk, completely blinding his view. The light stopped shining, and Dusk felt something weird around his wings. He couldn't move them.

"Let's see if you can make it back alive without flying, and if you don't, oh well no harms been done either way." The overseer chuckled.

"See you when you get back, if you get back at all." The overseer corrected himself and flew off into the distance disappearing from Dusk's view.

"You bastard, I did nothing wrong. All I did was defend my friend and here I am, somewhere in the middle of nowhere with no clue how to get home!" Dusk yelled at the top of his lungs. He knew however, annoying as it was, it wouldn't solve his current predicament.

"I should probably get going before this storm becomes too strong." Dusk thought as he proceeded to move in the same direction the overseer flew away in. He was surrounded by nothing but a barren snowfield with poor visibility.

As Dusk started moving, the wind started blowing harder. The wind blew with a strong force, the snowflakes felt like miniature knives stabbing against his scales.

Dusk felt his stamina draining, his vision blurring, his muscles slowly giving up. The further he moved, the more his muscles resisted the next movement.

"I will not die, not like this." Dusk kept saying to himself. As much as he tried, he eventually collapsed in the wilderness, exhausted, freezing and passed out.

* * *

Dusk woke up, finding himself in a cave, feeling warm with a blanket over him, and a live fire in front of him. Sitting across of him was a wolf. The wolf had yellow eyes and white fur with a light shade of blue. The wolf was eyeing him closely.

"So, you're finally awake huh." The wolf said, revealing she had a feminine voice.

"My name's Frost, I'm an oracle, and believe me young one you are not the first one to be saved by me. By my ancestors those overseers have always been careless in how they handle raising you young ones."

Dusk slowly got up, still groggy, exhausted and panting, after his collapse in the wilderness never once dropping his gaze at the wolf who had saved his life.

"Tell me something young one, what does your future hold?"

"What kind of question Is that?" Dusk panted.

"Look into my eyes and let's see." She responded.

Dusk gazed into Frost's eyes thinking it was a weird request. They kept gazing into each other's eyes until Frost's eyes started glowing a bright green color. Dusk was caught off guard as a pulsing green wave enveloped the cave and then quickly subsided.

"My dear friend, do you never consider your actions ahead of time?" Frost enquired.

Dusk was taken aback by the sudden and direct question but shook his head.

"So, you're an arrogant one? That's okay, everyone starts somewhere." Frost told him, winning a frown in response.

"Listen, you have an interesting future ahead of you. What do you think is awaiting you?" Frost went on.

"I don't know, and I don't care. All I know is that I want freedom without authority figures, I've had enough of those." Dusk responded angrily.

"If you want my advice kid, it's probably about time you gave up that attitude. Do that, and you'll find you might succeed more often in your endeavors."

Dusk winced in response, the idea of working for someone else was ludicrous. The overseers demanded respect and would never give it. He would never trust another adult with his life.

"With that said, you're free to go. The snowstorm has subsided, and you can head back home. If you follow that direction you should be home by lunch time." Frost said as she pointed in the direction leading out of the cave.

"I don't think I have the strength to make it very far." Dusk panted.

"We can fix that." Frost said, as she walked over to a chest and pulled out a green gem.

She lifted the green gem close to his head and the gem started shining. Slowly Dusk felt his energy returning.

"I also took care of the spell that incapacitated your wings. Also, don't let your overseers know that I live out here." Frost told him as she put the green gem away.

"Now get going, and good luck out there. Remember, if you don't fix your attitude, bad things will happen to you in the future." Frost told him as a final remark.

Dusk shook his head and began walking out of the cave.

He returned home, and as Frost had predicted, just in time for lunch. Dusk made his way to the mess hall but on his way, he walked into the overseer that had left him in the wilderness. He was, to say the least, very surprised to see him.

"H-How are you still alive? We all thought you died out there!" The overseer said loudly causing a scene.

"Maybe it's time you stopped underestimating me." Dusk said coldly and moved past the overseer, having no interest in talking with him.

Dusk got his food and sat next to Novis, who was also very surprised to see him.

"Y-You're alive? I can't believe it! My only friend in the whole world and here you are, alive and well!" Novis exclaimed.

Dusk shrugged.

"I guess I'm just that good." He responded with a slight laugh. They ate their lunch and discussed what had happened. Novis had cleaned the whole mess hall, but it had taken away a night's rest. Both overseers had stayed the whole night too, criticizing his work and pointing out spots he had missed. It was an awful punishment.

"One day my friend, one day we're going to get revenge on these bastards." Dusk said to Novis, who in response gave an approving nod.

* * *

"If only he hadn't put a spell on my wings I could've made it back just fine." Dusk thought to himself.

The grove eventually changed scenery into a forest. The tall trees were brimming with green leaves. The light was shining through the leaves giving a pretty view. He had walked far and still the trail kept going and going. His thoughts were interrupted when he spotted some tents in the distance.

"It must be them!" He thought in excitement.

Dusk climbed one of the trees to get a better view of what was ahead.

Ahead of him he could see five tents, a fire pit, some weapon racks and a few cages. It seemed like one of the cages had prisoners in them. Probably meant to be ransomed he thought. In the middle Dusk spotted the group of cheetahs and moles who had failed to capture him. It looked like some sort of commotion was going on.

* * *

"You absolute idiots, how dare you not bring back someone like that? I have no words for your stupidity, ransoming a dragon like that could've set me… uhm… us up for life!" The male cheetah scolded the group.

"But sir it wasn't our fault, that dragon was really fast and strong. We couldn't have hoped to fight back. We already lost Femur to that beast." One of the moles pleaded with the cheetah.

"You dare question me?" The cheetah snarled back at him, his rage echoing through the woods. The mole responded by shaking his head furiously.

"Listen up you dirty sacks of filth, either you go back and bring that dragon back here or else. You got that?" The cheetah threatened the group.

"Yes sir!" They responded in unison and ran off, back in the direction they had come from originally.

"Why can't I have proper associates working under me?" The cheetah sighed to himself. He walked over to the cage with the prisoners in it and hit the side of it with his sword, chuckling as he did.

* * *

Dusk looked over the camp and noticed that it was weakly set up, no defences, not even a sentry outpost. These guys were probably rookies and overtaking them would be easy he thought. He got down from the tree and snuck towards the camp. His mind was going through scenarios on how to overtake the camp. He could go in swift and strong cutting down his enemies along the way. He could wait until night while they were all asleep and silently get rid of them.

In the end his arrogance took over as he charged into the camp, slashing down one mole. Blood gushing out of its neck like a waterfall, collapsing on the ground.

"We're being attacked!" One of the cheetahs yelled. Dusk observed as they scrambled to draw their weapons and piled up in a big mess.

"I was wondering whether or not you guys were rookies, but now I can tell." Dusk said plainly.

The group stared at Dusk, who gave back a menacing stare, he was not scared.

"Lower your weapons, I wish to speak with it." A voice sounded behind him. He turned around and saw it was the cheetah he had witnessed scolding the previous group. He was dressed in mithril armor wielding a bow and a scimitar and a small pouch on his right thigh, he had bright yellow fur with green eyes.

"Are you with the temple of Warfang kid?" The cheetah went on to enquire.

"I'm my own agent, and I'm free to do as I please." Dusk responded.

"That's a surprise, usually you orphans are easy prey, then again we'd have nobody we could ransom you to. Not to mention the speed and ferocity of that attack of yours. It's no wonder my associates couldn't capture you."

Dusk continued staring down the cheetah.

"Let's see how you handle yourself. Prepare yourselves lads!"

Upon giving the command the kidnappers prepared their weapons and trapped Dusk in a circle. There were seven of them, all equipped with swords and iron armor. Dusk got into a combat stance and stared down the cheetah standing in front of him, paying no attention to those on his side, or behind him.

Dusk analyzed the situation ahead of him. He knew he was surrounded, and if he made one mistake it could spell doom for him. He decided the best strategy was to wait for one of them to attack. As it turned out, the kidnappers had the same idea. Time passed by, without anyone making a move, eventually their leader became tired of their idling.

"Are you idiots ever going to attack!?" Their leader yelled out in frustration.

"But sir, if we wear him down by waiting, we can easily overpower him and take him as a prisoner." One of the moles responded cheerfully.

"You idiot! Don't reveal our plan, now the kid is going to know." One of the cheetahs scolded the mole. The leader responded by doing a facepaw.

"You're just jealous I came up with the idea and you didn't!" The mole yelled back.

"No, it was my idea." A second mole responded

"Would you guys shut up, you're ruining my plan!" Another cheetah yelled.

"Oh and what's your plan then? Let's hear it."

This bickering back and forth went on for some time, none of them realizing Dusk had lowered his guard.

"Of all the bad guys I could meet, it had to be these guys." Dusk thought to himself. His thoughts were interrupted when the cheetah in front of him began charging forward, catching him off guard. In one quick desperate move, Dusk lunged his tail blade forward hoping to damage the cheetah before he could hit him. As luck would have it, Dusk managed to pierce the cheetahs throat, causing blood to gush from his throat.

The cheetah dropped his sword, holding his paw against the wound, gasping for air, dropping to the ground. The other group stared in silence, wide eyed at what had just happened. Until someone broke the silence.

"You hurt my brother you little snitch RAAARGH!"

In blood fueled rage another cheetah came charging at Dusk from his side. This time however, Dusk was prepared and rolled to the side just before the cheetahs' blade found his flesh. In one quick move Dusk stabbed the cheetah with his claws piercing the armor and going straight for the heart. The cheetah dropped his sword and clung unto Dusk's arm.

"Not bad kiddo." The cheetah wheezed with a small laugh.

Dusk dumped the cheetah's body on the ground, causing the group of five kidnappers to flinch. Glaring menacingly at the group, Dusk noticed they were all scared and cowering.

"R-Run!" One of the moles yelled out, which caused the group to drop their weapons and run in all directions into the forest.

Dusk turned around and stared back at their leader, who was not in the slightest bit amused at what had just happened. The two stared at each other before the cheetah broke the silence.

"Hmmmm…. I wonder, could you possibly be?"

Dusk's ears perked up, eagerly awaiting what the cheetah was going to say next.

"No that's not possible, your kind would be under the highest protection, then again you appear to have all the makings of a great fighter. Perhaps what you need is a change of heart."

Dusk was confused, a change of heart. What did he mean by that?

"Why so confused, no dragon your age can pierce iron armor with such ease, let alone fight with such strength. I wonder, what gave you this thirst for blood in the first place?"

Dusk shot another confused look at the cheetah. This was how he always fought, he knew no other way.

"Why are we even having this conversation?" Dusk went on to enquire in a slightly annoyed tone.

"Because I believe in civility between strong warriors, at least until I think otherwise, and you, you have proven to be worthy enough." The cheetah looked lost in thought. It took some time before he broke the silence once again.

"Well whatever or whoever you are, you've caught my attention. I must now bid you farewell. Perhaps we'll meet each other again, hopefully with the end result that one of us will be bleeding to death." As the cheetah finished his sentence he produced a small sphere from his pouch and threw it on the ground. The sphere on impact released a large smoke cloud, obstructing Dusk's view.

As the smoke subsided Dusk was surprised to see the cheetah had disappeared.

"That was really weird." Dusk thought to himself. His thoughts were interrupted when his attention was drawn to the cage where some moles were being kept. He approached the cage and noticed there were three moles being kept in it.

"Can you please get us out?" One of the moles pleaded with Dusk.

Dusk nodded in response and looked at the lock keeping the cage shut. The lock was weak and rusty, opening it by paw should be easy. It took some time, but Dusk eventually managed to force the lock open. Removing the lock and opening the cage the moles jumped out of the cage and rejoiced over their newly gained freedom. The three moles were all adults, with one of them being an elder.

"Thank you for freeing us… But tell me something, was that cheetah telling the truth, are you an orphan?" The eldest mole asked. Dusk nodded in response.

"That's a real shame kid, why don't you come with us to Warfang? I know the fire guardian personally and I'm sure they will have a place for someone with your strength. Plus, we can help you find out if your egg was lost and if you truly have parents."

Dusk shook his head.

"I had enough of authority figures back where I lived before I came here." Dusk responded plainly, showing no signs of emotion or care for the good deed he had just committed.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, but I can assure you, whatever you experienced at that place you lived at, will not happen in Warfang." The eldest mole reassured him.

"Look, I understand why you're doing this, but I don't have time for this. Are you good to make it back safely?" Dusk responded slightly annoyed.

"Yes, but." With that said, Dusk ran away, disappearing into the forest.

The eldest mole sighed.

"Looks like we should get back and report this to Pyris." The eldest mole ordered his friends.

* * *

 **Well that's pretty much all I had for you in this chapter. I hope this was at least more readable than the last chapter, if not I need to know now, either through a review or a DM. Personally, I'd rather want criticism than praise because I feel like I learn nothing from praise.**

 **That being said I'm not trying to discourage you from saying something positive about this story, by all means say it, but also give me critique if you see something I should improve on.**

 **I don't know when I'll have time to write the next chapter, but I'll do my best to do be more effective, no promises though. See ya next time, and peace.**

 **-Keijt Kotchenski**


	3. Blindsighted

**I'm not very good at this am I now? Well writing and updating is sort of difficult when you're busy writing a thesis and working a job at the same time.**

 **All that aside, life has been busy leaving me not much time to write this next chapter. I've also been thinking about the past two chapters I've written, and to be honest I'm not impressed by my own work meaning that I will, sometime after this chapter is done, go back and rewrite chapter 1 and 2.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't claim ownership of the spyro universe/franchise, only the OC's I made myself.**

The three moles ran back to Warfang as quickly as they could. While running they were thinking about what had transpired. They were rescued by an unknown dragon who wasn't even older than the dragons being trained at the temple. When they learnt he was an orphan, they offered him shelter, something which he refused. 'Why would this be.' One of the moles wondered.

Making it out of the woods they could see Warfang was not too far away. "Not too far now!" The oldest mole cheered out.

They made it to the front gate and was greeted by a cheetah with light orange colored fur in mithril armor. "Kestral? Where've you been? We were worried about you!" The cheetah exclaimed.

"Yes Saleon, we made it back, but I have urgent business with Pyris, please let us in." Kestral who was the oldest mole, hurriedly explained. Saleon nodded and proceeded to have the gate opened.

Kestral looked at the other moles. "You two make your way home, I'll be with you later." He ordered. They both nodded in response.

* * *

Kestral ran straight to the temple in the middle of the city, ignoring the busy city life that was going on. Upon reaching the temple doors he entered the main entrance and ran down through a long hall leading to the head office, barging in unannounced. Inside the office he found two of the guardians. Pyris a fire dragon, and Ivy a poison dragoness.

Pyris had red scales with a shade of orange, a light brown underbelly, orange wings and two orange colored horns on his head. Ivy had marine green scales, a beige underbelly and light green wings, her tail end was pointy like an arrowhead.

"Kestral? You're safe!" Pyris exclaimed.

Kestral nodded and stepped forward. "I'm sorry for bringing bad news, but we were attacked during the night here in Warfang. They knocked us out and dragged us off to a camp in the woods nearby. We didn't see our attackers, but we did see who our captors were."

Pyris and Ivy looked at each other, shocked at the news that the streets of Warfang were not safe. "Who were the captors?" Pyris asked.

Kestral described who his captors were, some moles and some cheetahs, as well as describing how the leader managed to escape. Amidst the explanation, one question kept creeping up in Ivy's mind. "How did you manage to escape?" She questioned.

"This may sound unbelievable but, we were rescued by a young dragon. Initially I thought this dragon was from the temple, but it turned out this one was an orphan." Kestral answered.

Pyris and Ivy looked at each other, both having a tough time believing this story.

"An orphan?" Pyris said in disbelief, Kestral returning a nod.

"How is a dragon that age able to take down some outlaws and rescue you?" Pyris enquired. Kestral responded with a shrug.

Pyris turned to Ivy who also shrugged.

"Since you're used to dealing with these kinds of dragons Ivy. Could you please explain why such a dragon would do something so foolish?" Pyris asked.

"Either this dragon has a death wish, or he's very arrogant." Ivy deducted. "Although I can't imagine what kind of dragon could be this foolish at that age." She further concluded.

"What did this dragon look like?" Ivy said as she turned to face Kestral.

"Black scales, black underbelly and silver wing membrane. He also had three horns whereas two curved backwards." Kestral explained.

Kestral looked at Pyris who still didn't seem to be convinced of his story. "What are you going to do about this Pyris?" Kestral asked with concern in his voice.

Pyris mulled over the question. He wasn't sure what to, but one thing was certain. If kidnappers were willing to strike inside the walls of Warfang, nobody would be safe.

"Kestral tell the other guardians to inform the youngsters that they have to stay indoors during the night. We can't risk having another kidnapping incident, especially amongst our own. I also want you to make sure the guards are informed of this." Pyris ordered.

Kestral nodded, bowed and hurried out of the room.

"Shouldn't we do something about the orphan too?" Ivy questioned.

Pyris turned to Ivy, she had a concerned expression on her face. "Something about this whole situation doesn't add up Ivy." Pyris responded.

Pyris stared blankly at the ground. "These outlaws would be daring enough to kidnap Kestral's crew during the night within the city's walls. They then somehow manage to bring them out of the city without anyone seeing them, to a camp that's so weakly defended that a lone young dragon manages to overtake the camp and disrupt the operation. Nothing about this makes any sense." Pyris further stated.

Ivy nodded in agreement, but she was unable to shake the feeling that this orphan might be in danger.

"You know the right thing to do would be to find this dragon and at the very least ensure his safety." Ivy said with determination.

"While that may be true, the fact remains that this dragon didn't wish to accept the shelter he was offered. So for that reason I don't see why this is our problem." Pyris retorted while staring into Ivy's eyes.

"And if you're wrong, and this dragon turns up dead tomorrow?" Ivy responded with a scolding look.

Pyris averted her gaze and looked at the ground. There was a long pause before he sighed in defeat, he knew she was right.

"Okay Ivy… Okay. But let's get one thing clear, you are to only find the dragon and make sure he's safe. Don't coax him into coming here." Pyris ordered.

Ivy nodded with a smile and left the room. As she ran down the hallway she was pondering over what she had just been told. A lone orphan willing to risk his own life for someone he didn't know but refusing the offer of a shelter and a chance to do something with his life. She couldn't shake the feeling that this was a dragon in need of help and guidance.

* * *

Dusk was running through the woods, the thick formation of trees made it difficult to constantly run at full speed. He eventually made his way to a lone pond surrounded by grass, isolated in a thick formation of trees all around.

Dusk looked at the paw he had used to attack the outlaws with, it was smeared in coagulated blood. 'Should probably clean this so I don't get diseases.' He thought.

Sitting next to the pond he began cleaning the blood off his paw which turned the water from its clear coloring to one with a dark red tone.

"If only the overseers had taught us how to clean out the blood of our enemies." Dusk chuckled to himself. 'I wonder, when was the first time I had to clean blood off my paws?' He pondered.

A feeling of dread came over Dusk as he realized when the last time was. 'Oh… right…' He thought

'It was one year before I was getting kicked out… I had to do something about the bullying Novis had to endure.' Dusk thought as the memories returned.

* * *

Dusk and Novis were in the mess hall. The bullies had thrown food at Novis while yelling taunting remarks. Fed up with it Dusk decided to confront them.

"If I hear one more word out of you I'm going to bash you into the next century!" Dusk growled at one of the bullies.

"Oh yeah, and what are you going to do about it? Attack me? Don't be ridiculous, you've been on the bad side of the overseers for a long time now. Just when are you going to realize you and your friend are helpless against us?" The bully retorted mockingly.

"Dusk please, enough of this already." Novis pleaded.

"Enough? They've mistreated you for as long as I can remember, there's not a punishment cruel enough for them!" Dusk snarled at his friend.

"But the overseers will kick you out!" Novis pleaded once again.

Dusk was too angry to hear his friends' plea to stop. He readied his claws, took a stance and awaited the bully's response, he at least wanted to give him a chance to take back his words.

"You wouldn't dare." The bully said coldly.

Satisfied with the response, Dusk jabbed his claws towards the bully as quickly as he could, piercing his scales. He screamed out in pain, the blood flowing slowly down his scales.

Dusk retracted his claws, causing the bully to fall to the floor crying.

"What's wrong with you!?" Novis exclaimed in disbelief of what had just happened.

Dusk looked at his claws. The blood was dripping off slowly. The sight of the bully in agony and the blood flowing along his paw made him feel a rush he had never felt before. There was something really intoxicating about the whole scene and the feeling of blood on his paw.

"So, which one of you is next?" Dusk asked in a sinister voice.

"Just what are you?" Another bully asked with a hint of fear in her voice.

"Forget that, find an oversee quickly!" Novis yelled out, his voice echoing as the memory faded.

* * *

Dusk thought back to the scene, the fear on their faces. He enjoyed that view more than anything. Even thinking back to it now, he couldn't help but feel a sinister grin forming on his face. He looked down into the water staring at his own reflection, his grin changed to a frown.

'I suppose it was a stroke of good fortune they didn't kick me out for that. I guess I was also fortunate that Novis didn't stop being my friend after that.' He thought to himself.

He continued washing the blood off his paw. He was lost in thought not paying attention to his surroundings, mesmerized by the discoloring of the water. The day was drawing to a close, the sun going down slowly.

'I suppose I might as well set up camp here.' Dusk thought. He had to face it, with nowhere to go he was free to do as he pleased, he just had no idea what to do. He inspected his now clean paw, satisfied with his cleaning work. 'Those woods would make for good cover for the night.' He thought.

* * *

Ivy was searching the woods near Warfang, she eventually found the camp where Kestral's crew had been held captive. The messy scene of the dead cheetahs was bothering her as she examined the dead bodies. 'How can someone so young manage to pierce iron armor?' She thought to herself.

She inspected the tents hoping to find clues as to who the perpetrators might be. She entered one of the tents and found a note under one of the beds. She read the note aloud in her head.

'Dauron, the assassins managed to knock out some moles inside the walls of Warfang. I almost can't believe it, whoever they called in for the job must've been good. Although I have to wonder why our leader was ordered to capture civilians specifically, they don't gain us a lot of money on the market. Oh well not for me to judge…' The note cutting off at the end. There was no way to see who had signed it.

'I'd best make a mental note of that name.' She thought. 'And assassins? Just what's going on here?'

Ivy continued searching the tents, she found nothing of interest in the other tents and now only one remained. This one was more spacious than the others, she concluded it probably belonged to the leader. Inside the tent there was a note on a bedside table. Once again, she read the note aloud in her head.

'Miwing (my-wing) since you still refuse to use our communication crystals I'm writing you this letter. I've done as you asked and kept my recruits in the dark. We've completed our mission in Warfang and are in the process of preparing the wares for transport. My scouts ran away from a dragon as well, can you believe this? One orphaned dragon and they all run away with their tails between their legs… Unbelievable. I've heard from our team in the north and they managed to capture a guardian's daughter, old fool left her there without any form of protection. By the time you get this letter you should…' The note ends there.

'Miwing huh? Another name to keep track of.' She thought to herself. She couldn't quite wrap her head around what was going on, it was all too strange. Everything in these letters would indicate these outlaws were at least somewhat professional, yet one dragon managed to disrupt the whole thing? This didn't make any sense to her.

She went outside again and looked around her surroundings. She noticed some bloody pawprints leading into the woods. 'Perhaps they belong to that dragon.' She thought. She took notice of the time of day, the sun was slowly going down. 'I'd best hurry.' She thought as she quickly followed the paw prints.

* * *

It was the middle of the night, and Dusk was laying up against a tree trying to sleep, it wasn't easy as he could feel the cold around him. He thought about the events that had transpired today, would the outlaws come back for revenge? He hoped so, life had always been boring without someone to fight. He thought about Novis, hoping wherever he was, he was safe. If anyone deserved a break in life it would be him.

His thoughts were disturbed when he heard a twig snap behind him. Turning around he expected to see someone, but he didn't. He moved towards the noise, feeling the adrenaline pumping harder and faster with every step he took. As he was standing in front of the trees from which the noise had emanated, he noticed there was nothing there, except a broken twig. As Dusk stood there in confusion, he noticed a shadow around him on the ground. He looked upwards and saw a dragoness staring at him.

The dragoness made her way down slowly. Dusk moved out of the way giving her space to land. She landed gracefully next to him and smiled at him.

Dusk simply stared at her, not showing any form of emotion nor care for who she was.

"It's good to see you're safe." She said, finally breaking the silence. "My name is Ivy and I'm from Warfang."

Dusk rolled his eyes. 'Why am I not surprised.' He thought to himself.

"I was sent here to make sure you're safe." Ivy further added.

"And you've done exactly that, now leave me be." Dusk said in an annoyed tone.

Ivy chuckled. "You're not getting rid of me that easily, so allow me to explain. I represent Warfang and I think it would be best if you came back with me, after all someone as young as you shouldn't be all the way out here by yourself."

Dusk rolled his eyes once again. "And I'm not even remotely interested so if you could just leave me alone." Dusk said angrily as he gestured for her to leave.

Ivy tilted her head in response. "What's with the hostile attitude? I'm only trying to help you."

Dusk sighed. "And I don't need your so-called help. The last time I listened to someone like you I nearly died."

Ivy gasped. "You nearly died? Who's been raising you?" She tried moving closer, but Dusk responded by moving backwards.

"How did that happen?" Ivy further enquired.

"This conversation is over… Goodbye." Dusk said before he darted away from her, running further into the woods.

* * *

Dusk made it out of the woods and into a grassy plain with a river running nearby. "Well there's no way to hide from her here." Dusk said aloud.

His monologue was interrupted when he heard someone land next to him. Dusk sighed, closed his eyes and turned around slowly. "Like I already told you I-" His speech was interrupted as he felt a stinging pain in his right eye.

Dusk groaned in pain as he tumbled backwards holding a paw over his stricken eye.

"You've meddled in affairs that doesn't concern you kid." A feminine voice said. This voice however, was different.

Dusk opened his left eye and saw that this was someone else. "Kid? You're barely taller than me." He said in an angry tone.

It was true though, she was the same height as him. She had obsidian colored scales with crimson red wings and underbelly and a scythe tail end.

"Your point?" She giggled back at him.

Dusk removed the paw from his eye and looked at it, it was bloody, and then it hit him. He couldn't open his eye. Dusk stared at his bloody paw, he couldn't believe what had just happened.

"Who are you and who sent you?" Dusk angrily demanded.

"Who I am should be the last thing on your mind right now. As for who sent me, that information is classified." The dragoness responded with a smile.

"Classified? What's that supposed to mean?" Dusk asked still very angry.

"Enough talk!" The dragoness yelled out as she got into a combat stance.

"Between you and me I was hoping for this." Dusk said aloud. 'I have to be careful though.' Dusk though to himself.

The dragoness laughed before charging at him. She got close to him when she suddenly vanished into thin air.

'What the-" Dusk thought as he turned around quickly, expecting a back attack, he saw nobody. He turned around again, still nothing. Dusk backed up towards the river trying his best to keep an eye on his surroundings.

Dusk almost fell in the water as he moved backwards. He was right next to the river. Turning around he looked into the river. 'The current is strong tonight, perhaps I should do a daring escape.' He thought.

As he was about to jump into the river he felt something piercing his back. Dusk yelled out in pain as he looked backwards. The dragoness had pierced his scales with her claws. Dusk was panting fast, he felt frozen in place, unable to move.

The dragoness creepy smile never left her face. She got uncomfortably close to his face and whispered to him. "Goodnight interloper."

She retracted her claw causing Dusk to wince in pain and pushed him into the river.

Dusk felt the cold water, it was freezing. He tried to use his paws to cling on to the bottom, hoping he could launch himself out of the water. The current was too strong for this to happen and Dusk was helpless to fight it. He soon lost his breath and found the water entering his lungs. He felt himself choking and desperately tried to move to the surface, desperately trying to come up for air. However, it was hopeless. He had lost the battle and couldn't muster the strength to get out of the water. Within minutes Dusk felt his consciousness fade, everything went dark.

 **Well I guess that's it for now. As I said in the beginning, I'm going to revisit and rewrite chapter 1 and 2 since those aren't to my liking at all.**

 **I'll see you next time whenever that is. Feel free to leave feedback… Or don't, that's entirely up to you.**

 **\- Keijt Kotchenski**


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